Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle © 28 décembre «Grigore Antipa» Vol. LV (2) pp. 233–276 2012 DOI: 10.2478/v10191-012-0016-8 ON THE SPECIES OF PHILONTHUS STEPHENS (COLEOPTERA: STAPHYLINIDAE: STAPHYLININAE: STAPHYLININI: PHILONTHINA) IN THE COLLECTIONS OF RoMANIAN NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUMS MELANIA STAN Abstract. 57 species of the genus Philonthus were identified in the collections of four museums of Romania: Brukenthal National Museum, “Grigore Antipa” National Museum of Natural History, Museum of Natural History of Iaşi and Museum of Oltenia, Craiova. Philonthus wuesthoffi Bernhauer, an alien species from East Palaearctic Region, is a new record for the Romanian fauna. Except for Philonthus pyrenaeus Kiesenwetter, the species treated here are in the Romanian fauna and presented with their distribution maps. An identification key for Romanian Philonthus species found in the studied collections is also provided. Résumé. Cinquante-sept espèces du genre Philonthus ont été identifiés dans les collections de quatre musées de Roumanie: Muséum National Brukenthal, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle «Grigore Antipa», le Musée d’Histoire Naturelle de Iaşi et le Musée de l’Olténie, Craiova. Philonthus wuesthoffi Bernhauer, une espèce introduite de la région paléarctique orientale, constitue un nouveau record pour la faune de la Roumanie. Sauf pour Philonthus pyrenaeus Kiesenwetter, les espèces traitées ici sont présentes dans la faune de Roumanie et on donne leurs cartes de répartition. Aussi, on présente une clé de détermination pour les espèces de Philonthus de la faune de Roumanie qui se trouvent dans les collections des musées étudiés. Key words: Philonthus, Romania, faunistics, distribution maps, identification key. INTRODUCTION Genus Philonthus, rich in species, contains around 350 species in the Palaearctic Region. In Central Europe, 68 species are known (Schillhammer, 2011), and for Romania 65 species were reported, according to the literature (Stan, 2004). In 1837, Kirby introduced the taxon Philonthina, grouping the species with smooth forebody, sometimes with metallic luster, with the last article of the labial palpi fusiform (which is not narrower than the last but one article), and the lower side of protarsi with light coloured modified hairs. In 1956, Coiffait proposed the tribe Philonthini, with several genera, out of which there were Philonthus, Paragabrius and Spatulonthus, which, today are included in the genus Philonthus. Only Philonthus includes five subgenera, basing on the aedeagus morphology, respectively of the paramers (Coiffait, 1974). For the time being, the division of the genus Philonthus into two subgenera: Philonthus Stephens and Onychophilonthus Neresheimer & Wagner, basing on the morphology of the last article of protarsus and of its claws (Schillhammer, op. cit.) is accepted. The representatives of Philonthus are recognized after the two rows of disc- like punctures on the pronotum (absent in some species), respectively 3, 4, 5, 6 or more points in a row. Although it seems to be easy to be identified, there is a series of species of the groups varians, micans, longicornis, montivagus for which the study of the aedeagus is very important, or the study of the tergite X in females, as in the case of the varians group. 234 MELANIA STAN In Romania, Lidia Raianu (Museum of Natural History, Iaşi) dealt with the genus Philonthus (Raianu, 1965, 1967, 1968 a, b, 1969, 1970). MatEriaLS and MEthods The paper is primarily based on the material collected from Romania and it is deposited in the collections of the following museums: BNM = Brukenthal National Museum – Natural History Department (Sibiu); MINI = Museum of Natural History (Iaşi) MGAB = ”Grigore Antipa” National Museum of Natural History, Bucharest (Bucureşti); MO = Museum of Oltenia (Craiova). Besides material collected in Romania, a few Philonthus specimens from Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Macedonia, Morocco, Poland, Russia, Slovenia and Switzerland were studied and cited herein. The ”Karl Petri” Collection (Brukenthal National Museum) is rather old, formed at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th one, with specimens collected from Transylvania, to which some other specimens from abroad were added, as exchanges of biological material or collecting. ”Lidia Raianu” Collection (Museum of Natural History Iaşi) includes specimens collected within the period 1956-1989, especially from Moldova and Dobrogea. The Museum of Oltenia, Craiova, houses a small collection of staphylinids, with specimens from the Oltenia area. In ”Grigore Antipa” National Museum of Natural History, the specimens of the genus Philonthus are included in the Collection of Palaearctic Coleopterans (catalogue published by Lidia Raianu in 1968) and in the Collection of Staphylinidae, formed in 2007. This last collection, which we refer here, includes specimens from the collections of Friedrich Deubel, Eduard Fleck, Desnö Kenderessy (specimens collected in the first decade of the 20th century), specimens collected by the specialists who worked in the museum since 1952, but also by the specialists who are active in this institution right now. The specimens were identified by the author of this paper. The collecting sites from Romania are presented in figure 1. The counties and localities from where the specimens were collected are listed below: Alba: Aiud, Ocna Mureş, Şpring Argeş: Bârla, Dâmbovicioara, Galeşu, Piteşti, Sătic, Stoeneşti, Valea lui Stan stream, Vâlsan valley Bacău: Putredeni, Sohodol, Târgu Ocna Bistriţa-Năsăud: Ilva Mică, Năsăud, Rodna Mts Bihor: Stâna de Vale Braşov: Bran, Braşov, Hărman, Homorod, Tâmpa Mt., Postăvarul Mt., Predeal, Râşnov, Racoş, Sâmbăta de Sus, Sohodol, Zărneşti Brăila: Gura Gârluţei Bucureşti Buzău: Buzău, Izvorul Dulce (Beceni) Caraş-Severin: Băile Herculane, Mehadia, Potoc Călăraşi: Budeşti, Ceianu Nou islet, Ciocăneşti islet, Fermecatu islet, Fundulea, Haralambie islet, Pisica islet PHILONTHUS (COLEOPTERA) SpecIES IN THE collectIONS OF ROMANIAN MUSEUMS 235 Fig. 1 - The map of collecting sites for Philonthus specimens based on the examined material. Cluj: Cojocna, Cluj, Dej, Floreşti, Turda, Valea Ierii Constanţa: Agigea, Babadag, Canaraua Fetii (Băneasa), Casian, Chituc Sand, Constanţa, Eforie, Hagieni, Limanu, Negru Vodă, Ostrov, Techirghiol, Tuzla Covasna: Ariuşd, Racoşul de Sus Dâmboviţa: Titu Dolj: Băileşti, Bistreţ, Bucovăţ, Calafat, Castrele Traiane (Pleniţa), Craiova, Izvoare, Perişor, Răcarii de Jos, Segarcea, Şimnic, Verbicioara Iaşi: Bârnova, Breazu, Dealul Repedea (Pietrăria), Dobrovăţ, Grajduri, Holboca, Iaşi, Mârzeşti (forest), Dumbrava forest (Ciurea), Podu Iloaiei, Poieni, Ruginoasa, Valea lui David (Valea Lupului), Vlădiceni Ilfov: Borduşani, Cernica, Odăile, Pasărea (Brăneşti), Periş, Snagov Galaţi: Buciumeni, Galaţi (to Giurgiuleşti custom), Movileni, Rogojeni, Vădeni (Cavadineşti) Giurgiu: Angheleşti, Braniştea, Cama islet, Călugăreni, Comana, Gârla Manta (Oinacu), Gostinu, Izvoarele, Malu, Mihai Bravu, Slobozia islet, Slobozia, Vlaşin Gorj: Cheile Galbenului, Izvoarele, Novaci, the Muierii cave, Rânca, Locurele Hermitage, Sohodol Gorges Harghita: Bălan, Borsec, Boteni, Izvoru Mureşului (Voşlăbeni), Büdös (Sântimbru), Hăşmaşul Mare Mt., Secu valley (Borsec), Vlăhiţa Hunedoara: Câinelu (Şoimuş), Deva, Gura Zlata, Haţeg, Pasul Surduc, Retezat Mts Maramureş: Bârsana, Bistra, Crasna Vişeului, Dragomireşti, Făina, Ieud, Mara (Deseşti), Ocna Şugatag, Poienile de sub Munte, Repedea, Săliştea de Sus, Săpânţa, Sârbi, Vişeul de Sus 236 MELANIA STAN Mehedinţi: Bulba valley (Baia de Aramă), Bahna valley, Balta, Eşelniţa, Gura Motrului, Isverna, Jupâneşti (Cireşu), Motru Sec valley (Motru Sec), Orşova, Ostrovul Mare, Strehaia, Şviniţa Mureş: Răstoliţa, Saschiz, Sighişoara, Sovata Neamţ: Ceahlău Mt., Izvorul Muntelui, Piatra Neamţ, Pângăraţi, Potoci (Bicaz), Roman, Roznov, Rugineşti, Secu, Tarcău Olt: Reşca, Vineţi Prahova: Azuga, Buşteni – Valea Cerbului, Bucegi Plateau, Comarnic, Drajna de Sus, Lunca Prahovei, Mehedinţa (Podenii Noi), Poiana Ţapului, Sinaia, Tohani Satu Mare: Foieni, Tarna Mare (Oaş Mts) Sibiu: Dumbrava forest (Sibiu), Guşteriţa (Sibiu), Poiana Neamţului, Sibiu, Turnu Roşu Suceava: Broşteni, Cacica, Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Zamca-Suceava, Dorna Candrenilor, Fălticeni, Găineşti, Iacobeni, Negrişoara, Putna, Rarău Mt., Rădăuţi, Râşca, Slătioara, Suceava, Valea Putnei (Pojorâta), Vama, Vatra Dornei Teleorman: Purani Tulcea: Babadag, Caraorman, C. A. Rosetti, Celic Dere, Cerna, Chilia Veche, Crişan, Greci, Haşmacul lui Omer (Letea forest), Horia, Izvoarele, Jurilovca, Luncaviţa, Maliuc, Măcin, Niculiţel, Periprava, Sarinasuf, Sfântu Gheorghe, Stipoc, Sulina Vaslui: Bârlad, Fălciu, Huşi, Jigălia, Murgeni Vâlcea: Cozia, Dealul Bisericii (Sineşti), Govora, Voineasa Vrancea: Ciorăşti, Tulnici Abbreviations: - spec. (s) – specimen (s); Mt. (Mts) – Mountain (Mountains); m a.s.l. – meters above sea level For the photographs a digital camera (Nikon D 700 with Nikkor 105 mm F 2.8 obiectiv) and Stemi 2000-C stereomicroscope were used. The maps were generated using the software Arc View GIS version 8.3. RESULts and DiscussionS The 57 species of the genus Philonthus, found after examining museum collections, are alphabetically presented. The used nomenclature is that from the Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera (Smetana, 2004). For each species, the number of the studied specimens, collecting date, collector and type of microhabitat/habitat, where there is